I’ve been on both extremes of this discussion.

My opinion on this subject changed dramatically after I had children. Many tabletop roleplayers tend to lean toward having a foul mouth. When I was stocking groceries for a living, I would cuss like a drunken sailor in front of just about anybody.

One spiritual awakening and four kids later, I don’t do that anymore. The question really becomes how to approach it as a Game Master. Sometimes it might even occur to players that they might want to leave the sailor talk at the door.
How do we house rule this?

At a Session Zero, we tell everybody to keep the language PG or nicer. I try to keep my own language at least PG 13 on here and YouTube. Apparently YouTube has a rule about excessive swearing. That’s also where my 🦆 Ducky Emojis 🦆 come into play here on the blog.

Truthfully, I don’t start lobbing F-bombs around until I get overly upset or worked up about a subject. That’s why some of my Wizards of the Coast commentary and responses to the D&DTubers tend to get a little colorful or ducky at times. 🦆🦆🦆 I have a lot of passion when it comes to my hobby and my games. Sometimes gaming is my life preserver in an ocean of insanity.

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

I’ve never felt the “No swearing” rule had to be absolute. One of our FLGS has a sign posted on their doors about no swearing allowed on the premises. I think it’s a little extreme, but they want to keep the place family friendly. It’s tough for me to follow 100%, but I do the best I can.

I struggle a little bit as a GM with the absolute no swearing rule because I tend to get immersed in my NPCs and some of them are pretty gruff and abrasive. They’re likely to say things the censors wouldn’t approve of on TV. I regularly remind myself to behave.

Players just have the responsibility.

I think players probably have a much easier time following the no swearing, PG rated language rule than I do as a GM. Personally, I find being a player is a bit more relaxing than being a GM just because players really just have the one character and might want to be paying attention to the plot. That’s just my opinion, though.
Like anything else at our house, sometimes players let a few excited utterances slip out, but we just remind everyone to keep the language kid friendly. My wife watches our kids like a hawk for foul language, and they have had their privileges revoked a few times for spouting off. Typical parent-kid stuff.

Not the time to deal in absolutes.

I must confess, there was a time when if you didn’t like my language (usually because they were “good Christians,”) well- there’s the door. Bye. Even the New Age spiritual communities I’m in have people that swear profusely at times. There’s always a choice to not be around that language.
What works at my table may not work for yours. What your group decides at your Session Zero or amongst yourselves is fine. Obviously if you’ve been gaming together for a long time, it’s probably not even necessary to have such a discussion. As long as everyone is having fun, you’re doing it right.